ExBlend deblender - v1.04 - 18 Dec 2018

[kedautinh12]

Thank Stainroid for create a very good plugin and waiting for a new script from flossy_cake

[flossy_cake]

Originally Posted by kedautinh12

Thank Stainroid for create a very good plugin

Stainroid?!

[kedautinh12]

He's like chatGPT for avisynth

[flossy_cake]

Originally Posted by kedautinh12

He's like chatGPT for avisynth

Oh you mean StainDROID as in android. StainROID on the other hand sounds like roid stain which is something else

Originally Posted by flossy_cake

Case study: Mad About You DVD Region 1 by Mill Creek Entertainment
Mill Creek strikes again!
ExBlend to the rescue...

In case anyone benefits from it I've manually inspected all 164 episodes to compile a list of which ones need repairing and here is that list...

Season 1&2
  No defects, can be TIVTC'd as usual with optional decombing
	
Season 3&4	
  Repair with ExBlend:
  ExBlend(mode=0, lockthresh=0.0, ithresh=3.0, show=0).Prefetch(1).Preroll(8)
  TDecimate(mode=1, CycleR=1, Cycle=5, denoise=true).Prefetch(1)
  QTGMC(InputType=1, preset="slow", Rep0=13, Sharpness=0.0).Prefetch(4)
  Spline36Resize(720, 540)
  ChangeFPS(60000,1001)
	
Season 5 E01-E12
  Only needs TDecimate from 30 to 24 with optional decombing 
 
Season 5 E13-E24
  Repair with vinverse + ExBlend:
  vinverse(sstr=0.25).Prefetch(1)
  ExBlend(mode=0, lockthresh=0.0, ithresh=3.0, show=0).Prefetch(1).Preroll(8)
  TDecimate(mode=1, CycleR=1, Cycle=5, denoise=true).Prefetch(1)
  QTGMC(InputType=1, preset="slow", Rep0=13, Sharpness=0.0).Prefetch(4)
  Spline36Resize(720, 540)
  ChangeFPS(60000,1001)

Season 6 E01-E12
  Same as season 3&4
 
Season 6 E13-E26
  Same as season 1&2, except E18 same as S05E13-E24

Season 7 E01-E05, E07, E15
  Same as season 1&2
  
Season 7 E06, E08-E14, E16-E22
  Same as season 3&4

edit: reduced QTGMC sharpness from default 1.0 to 0.0 as this show has
lots of baked-in sharpening which seems to be interacting with QTGMC's
sharpener to make it look more sharp than usual.

What a disgusting mess made by Mill Creek Entertainment, and what an incredible feat of reverse engineering to salvage it. Is Mill Creek enshittification?

[flossy_cake]

Originally Posted by StainlessS

int pal -1, 0, 1 , Default 0, lets Exblend() know what the original frame rate was.

1, Forced PAL 25 FPS original frame rate. If the original source was 24 FPS and PAL is set
to 1, then this can DRAMATICALLY reduce the effectiveness of ExBlend() due to it hinting
out blends and overriding what should have been a blend detection. This will again, throw
it out of sync.

I was just wondering about the pal=1 setting - does this recover 24p from a 25p video, or does it recover 25p from a 30p video?

[StainlessS]

This one.

I was just wondering about the pal=1 setting - does this recover 24p from a 25p video, or does it recover 25p from a 30p video?

NTSC 720x480, DVD stuff where 23.976 film (progressive) has repeat fields inserted to bring it up to 29.97 FPS,
sometimes this 'stuff' was width-cropped 704x480 and downsized to 352x240 causing sequences of 3 good frames / 2 Blended frames, @ 29.97.
At the time of writing, I did not 100% know the cause of the 3 good / 2 blended sequences that ExBlend fixes,
so I just added the PAL option to attempt fix sequences of 4 good / 2 blend sequences.
I aint ever found any 4 good 2 bad sequences that Exblend fixes.

From docs

3:2 pulldown that has been resized as if progressive

So maybe PAL=1 mode would be 4:2 pulldown (dont know if such a thing exists), and resized as if progressive.

int pal           -1, 0, 1 , Default 0, lets Exblend() know what the original frame rate was.

                    This sets the filters hints, after a blended pair is found, the detector will preset
                    3 (23.976/24 FPS) frames either side of the pair to HINTED meaning No Blend. If 'pal' (25 FPS)
                    is set to 1, it will preset 4 frames either side to HINTED. This helps it fall
                    into sync with sequence but may have slight delayed detection if the sequence goes
                    out of sync. If a frame has already been preset (visited) then the hint will not
                    be set, this allows hints to work when scanning both forward and backwards.
                      Not sure if PAL is actually useful or not, never seen any clip that exhibited this
                    problem with a good/blended signature of GGGGBBGGGGBBGGGG etc, where there are 4
                    good frames and 2 blends. As it did not add much difficulty to the plugin, PAL was
                    implemented just incase it was ever found to be useful.

                  -1 AutoPal mode. (MODE 0 ONLY)
                    If you are not sure what the original source was you can set PAL = -1 (MODE 0 Only).
                    If "Unblended:Blended Pairs" Ratio is between (4.0-0.01) and 5.0 at frame 1500 (1500=60*25
                    = 60 seconds @ 25 FPS), it will auto switch to PAL hints, the first 60 seconds
                    could contain the odd extra false blend pair detection.
                    If AUTO PAL is activated, the Metrics P (PAL) flag is hi-lited. It's
                    not a good idea to rely on this auto pal switch, you should set pal=1 when you
                    see it in orange. If autopal is activated and you later see the ratio rise above
                    5.0, then it would seem that the autopal detection was in error, this can happen
                    if the 1st 60 seconds contains a lot of static scenes with little movement, in this
                    case you should change to PAL=0 to disable the autopal detection and force it
                    to 23/24FPS original frame rate. Again, if the 1st 60 seconds contains a lot of static
                    scenes and it was originally PAL 25 FPS then the autopal may fail to detect and not
                    auto switch to PAL mode, in this case, ratio will later fall to above 4.0 and below
                    about 5.0. In this case you should change to PAL=1 to force PAL mode.

                  0, Forced 24 (or 23.976) FPS original frame rate (Default).
                     If the original source was 25 FPS and PAL is set
                     to 0, then this can reduce the effectiveness of ExBlend() due to it erroneously
                     detecting false blends where it should have been hinted, thus throwing it out of sync.

                  1, Forced PAL 25 FPS original frame rate. If the original source was 24 FPS and PAL is set
                     to 1, then this can DRAMATICALLY reduce the effectiveness of ExBlend() due to it hinting
                     out blends and overriding what should have been a blend detection. This will again, throw
                     it out of sync.

                     The R (RATIO) metrics flag will be displayed in orange at any time the ratio is not within expected
                     bounds, including during the AUTO PAL detection period (if it was a 25 FPS clip originally)
                     but will disappear once AUTO PAL has switched.

Original source rate is what you will try to recover. [what it was before the blends were erroneously produced in the bad source to be fixed].

[flossy_cake]

I have an NTSC region 1 DVD ("The Ray Bradbury Theater") where some episodes were shot in New Zealand at 25fps film and they appear to have converted it to 30i using a 3:2:3:2:2 cadence with no blended fields. Some other episodes appear to be using 23.0fps with a 3:3:2:3:2 cadence. These episodes look fine when played back at 60p as the judder is not really visibly different from 3:2 judder imo.

[StainlessS]

Is there a question in there ?

It dont sound as if ExBlend can do anything with it.

[flossy_cake]

Originally Posted by StainlessS

Is there a question in there ?

Sorry no just a comment. If 25p goes well enough into 30i with 3:2:3:2:2 then there probably isn't any need for the authors to field blend it, and no need to deblend it.

Another one is PAL DVD of Curb Your Enthusiasm which is fieldblended from 30i 2:2 --> 25i 1:1 . This one can't be IVTC'd as each field is a unique image with a different blend amount from the original 30p frames.

[tormento]

Where can I find the latest version of exblend?

[StainlessS]

Where can I find the latest version of exblend?

@ MediaFire in my sig [under any of my posts when logged in]
Or direct link here:- https://www.mediafire.com/folder/hb2...7z6/StainlessS

[tormento]

Originally Posted by StainlessS

Or direct link here

[tormento]

Seems a bit difficult to properly tweak.

Any help about this would be welcome.

[StainlessS]

Does not look suitable source to me.
Originally intended for

ExBlend(), is a plugin originally written for telecined clips that were downsized from 720x480 to VCD 352x240.
The damage caused by this, looks similar to damage caused by blend Deinterlacing of telecined clips, which results
in a double blend, every five frames, GGGBBGGGBBGGGBB etc where 'G' is good and 'B' is blend.
Where damage is due to Deinterlacing of telecined clips, it is likely that a denoised detection clip is required
as although the damage looks quite similar, it is not exactly the same.

Use with defaults but with PAL = 0,

int pal -1, 0, 1 , Default 0, lets Exblend() know what the original frame rate was.

This sets the filters hints, after a blended pair is found, the detector will preset
3 (23.976/24 FPS) frames either side of the pair to HINTED meaning No Blend. If 'pal' (25 FPS)
is set to 1, it will preset 4 frames either side to HINTED. This helps it fall
into sync with sequence but may have slight delayed detection if the sequence goes
out of sync. If a frame has already been preset (visited) then the hint will not
be set, this allows hints to work when scanning both forward and backwards.
Not sure if PAL is actually useful or not, never seen any clip that exhibited this
problem with a good/blended signature of GGGGBBGGGGBBGGGG etc, where there are 4
good frames and 2 blends. As it did not add much difficulty to the plugin, PAL was
implemented just incase it was ever found to be useful.

-1 AutoPal mode. (MODE 0 ONLY)
If you are not sure what the original source was you can set PAL = -1 (MODE 0 Only).
If "Unblended:Blended Pairs" Ratio is between (4.0-0.01) and 5.0 at frame 1500 (1500=60*25
= 60 seconds @ 25 FPS), it will auto switch to PAL hints, the first 60 seconds
could contain the odd extra false blend pair detection.
If AUTO PAL is activated, the Metrics P (PAL) flag is hi-lited. It's
not a good idea to rely on this auto pal switch, you should set pal=1 when you
see it in orange. If autopal is activated and you later see the ratio rise above
5.0, then it would seem that the autopal detection was in error, this can happen
if the 1st 60 seconds contains a lot of static scenes with little movement, in this
case you should change to PAL=0 to disable the autopal detection and force it
to 23/24FPS original frame rate. Again, if the 1st 60 seconds contains a lot of static
scenes and it was originally PAL 25 FPS then the autopal may fail to detect and not
auto switch to PAL mode, in this case, ratio will later fall to above 4.0 and below
about 5.0. In this case you should change to PAL=1 to force PAL mode.

0, Forced 24 (or 23.976) FPS original frame rate (Default).
If the original source was 25 FPS and PAL is set
to 0, then this can reduce the effectiveness of ExBlend() due to it erroneously
detecting false blends where it should have been hinted, thus throwing it out of sync.

1, Forced PAL 25 FPS original frame rate. If the original source was 24 FPS and PAL is set
to 1, then this can DRAMATICALLY reduce the effectiveness of ExBlend() due to it hinting
out blends and overriding what should have been a blend detection. This will again, throw
it out of sync.

The R (RATIO) metrics flag will be displayed in orange at any time the ratio is not within expected
bounds, including during the AUTO PAL detection period (if it was a 25 FPS clip originally)
but will disappear once AUTO PAL has switched.

After full scan RATIO flag should NOT be orange, not suitable source.
Also, [EDIT: Below SHOW=4 or SHOW=5 metrics]

4 Show Blend count and ratio

BlendPairs =w (max=x)
Ratio =y (z%)

Gives a count of detected blend pairs and the ratio of
Unblended to BlendPairs. When you have scanned from start to end of the
clip (without jumping about or going backwards) 'Ratio' should give a
result of 3.xxxx for 24 FPS original and 4.xxxx for 25 FPS original,
meaning 3 good frames and 2 blended for 24 FPS or 4 good and 2 blended
for 25 FPS.
Should only scan forward (Otherwise, BlendPairs & Ratio will
be wrong). Following ratio, the percentage of detected blends is displayed,
based on the current pal mode, this may give a more humanistic idea as to
how well ExBlend() is doing.
Following BlendPairs (max=x) is displayed where x is the maximum number of
blend pairs that could exist in the clip using the current PAL mode, this
will change if AUTO PAL switch is activated. The max value displayed assumes
also that the clip stays in sequence throughout, if it does not, the true
max value could well vary from that shown and the true percentage of blends
found could well be higher or lower than shown, but not by much (small
fraction of a percent, probably).
Also note, ExBlend() may not detect the first or last blends in a clip due
to it needing 3 frames both before and after the current frame to do it's
detections.

The Ratio % (above "Ratio =y (z%)") should be at least about 95% otherwise
is unlikely to be suitable source for fix.

Was never envisaged to be useful for anything other than badly converted NTSC DVD downsized for VCD/SVCD.

EDIT: At a minimum, there should be constant stream of 3 good frames, and 2 bad/blurred frames.

[flossy_cake]

The holy grail would be to have an argument where the user can specify arbitrary patterns like ExBlend(pattern="GGGBBBGGBB"). It's painful to think about how this might be implemented.